About

SMS Commons is an online platform created in order to serve the needs of our faculty, current & prospective students and alumni to have a common place for sharing their news, media, accomplishments and whereabouts strengthening and connecting further our community. It is also a SMS news source with updates about The School of Media Studies signature events, publications, exhibitions and outside activities.

SMS Commons bounds together various websites, sections and platforms: Experience Media, our newest publication, which will showcase and promote innovative and engaging work of SMS faculty; Guidebook for Students, a page where everything you need to know as SMS student will be available in an accessible way; SMS News, a news portal where you’ll find everything you need for staying updated about everything that’s going on in School of Media Studies; Skill Sharing (Coming Soon), a special section of SMS Commons that will provide resources for students and faculty to share and exchange their skills and knowledge; UMS Lecture Series, a section featuring lectures, presentations and class notes from our foundational graduate class Understanding Media Studies; SMS Projects, where we’ll keep you updated on numerous ongoing activities and projects developed in the School of Media Studies.

SMS Commons features presentations of our signature events, publications and media exhibitions: DocTalks, our bi-weekly event guest presentation series with contemporary film and video makers, festival programmers and new media distributors, editors, composers, and sound designers who engage with students in conversation about their own work and the various issues and challenges in documentary today; CreativelySpeaking Film Series, presents a one day conference with two documentary films, a web series showcase, panels, and music; FINE CUTS, features student finished works spanning all genres of film and video; RUFF CUTS, which is a monthly opportunity for New School students to exhibit and discuss their media works in progress; Kinoscope, a program that enhances the awareness and understanding of the film and filmmaking process by screening a wide variety of national and international films; Truth Be Told, an annual three-night event which offers public screenings of short films made by students in the School of Media Studies’ graduate certificate program in Documentary Media Studies; Voice-Over, an annual script reading event where screenplays written by students’ completing the Screenwriting Certificate are brought to vivid life as select portions are read before an audience of students, peers and invited film industry professionals; BETA an event in which School of Media Studies students working on media or digital installations that fall outside the boundaries of film exhibit their works and benefit from dialogue and constructive critique with faculty members and peers; Critical Themes, a student run conference that operates under the guidance of a member of the faculty; Emerging Media/Leading Industries, a lecture series in media management; Immediacy, the online journal designed to capture the spirit of media studies at The New School’s School of Media Studies; Mixed Messages, an annual exhibition of outstanding creative work by graduate students in the School of Media Studies.